Eastern Approaches

Long treated like pariahs by the BCCI, six Northeast states get their Ranji whites

- Qaiser Mohammad Ali

BETTER late than never, they say with smug sympathy. After decades of deprivation at the hands of successive dispensations of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the much-ignored cricketers from the Northeast will be able to showcase their talent in the Ranji Trophy and other national tournaments in 2018-19. The news, coming as it does with the advent of the rains, has sent a thrill of joy and excitement through the playing fraternity. The first, sharp showers in the Northeast couldn’t have borne better tidings.

Along with the six Northeast states— Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Megha laya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Sik kim—Uttarakhand and the Union territory of Pudu­ cherry will also debut in the Ranji Trophy, which starts on November 1. Also, long­ deprived Bihar returns to the national championship fold after 14 years in wilderness, a victim of ruthless BCCI politics.

Of the six northeast states, Mizoram is not even a member of the BCCI, which consistently, and inexplicably, ignored the state’s application for affiliation for 16 years. Now, thanks to the Supreme Court’s intervention, Mizoram, too, will compete in the Ranji Trophy and other tournaments. Bihar’s story is no less disturbing. It was cruelly thrown out of the Ranji Trophy after its membership was snatched by the Jagmohan Dalmiya­ headed BCCI following bifurcation of the state and handed over to newly­ cre­ated Jharkhand in 2000. Cricketers of Uttarakhand, which was carved out of Uttar Pradesh around the same time, also suffered due to the BCCI’s vote politics and was denied affiliation.